Signaling mechanism.



35 1 wherein'- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a! oLaUn H.FOSTER, oroLEvnLAND, oHI'o.-

SIGNALING MECHANISM.'

To all t may concern Be it known that I, -CLAUD H. l `osTER,

a. citizen of the- United States, residing at .Cleveland,.in the countyof Cuyahoga andV State of Ohio, have invented a certain new. .fanduseful Improvement in Signaling Mech- Qanisms, ofv which the followingis a full,"

' "'clear; and exact description, reference being vhad to theaccompanying drawi gs.

This invention relates to wind instrumeiits, and more particularly toinstruments which may be employed.v with vehicles, suchas automobiles,and operated by thepressure lof a fluid, as the exhaust of the enginesof such vehicles, to sound an alarm.

' The objects of thepresent invention'are to providey anfinstrument'ofthis kind coniprising a plurality of. indi\'idua'l sounding or signalingmembers, each being provided v'with an independent valve for supplyingand cutting od the ow`of pressure fluid thereto; also to provide aninstrument of this kind with1 convenient and efficient means foroperating such valves; also to rovide an Iinstrument of this kind witheiicien't means whereby themembers may beoperated individually andwhereby diiferent ygroups ofsaid members may be selected andsimultaneously operated toproduce signalsy -or musical chords.

W ith the above objects in view, the invention may be further ilened asconsisting of the combinations ofjelements embodied in the claimshereto' annexed and illustrated in the' drawings forming a part hereof,

portion of an automobile having my invention applied thereto;y Fig. 2isa detail in vperspective'of 'the key board and operating means forsounding various groups of horns;

ig.- 3 isa transverse sectional view of the key board shown' in Fig. 2;and Figs. 4 and 5 5 are details of one of the" valves which control 'theyflow lof pressure. fluid to the signal-- ing members.

In the embodiment of my invention' shown herein, there are employedy assignaling 'members a plurality of horns of the type known to the tradeas Gabriel horns,-

that'is to'saygliorns which' are adapted to' give a musical'sound and tohold their pitch irresp'ective'o'f. wide variations inthefpresvsure(utilis fluid by 'which' they may bev operated. To each of these lhornsi'sconfnected a branch'pipeorconnection leadingl s'pciaeation of LenersPatent. Application led November 3, 1909', Serial ivo.

rat-eared Juiye, i912. 525,992.

from a common manifold or header, and

each branch pipe or connection is provided f with a valve having ay wireor other suitable flexible connection extending therefrom to a key boardwhich is located alongsideof ythe seat of the operator.

' In the drawings,llrepresents, more or lessy conventionally, the bodyof an automobile, 2 the fro'nt fender and V3 the seat thereof.v

4 denotes a pipe projecting throughI the gine lexhaust 4a. This pipeandthe engine exhaust. pipe will beprovided with a cutout valve,preferably such as shown in my Patentv#913,632, issued February-23,1909, the stem of said valvebeing shown at 4b and 4 communicates withtheheader 5, which is provided with a `plurality of branch cona horn 7.Any suitable Inumber of horns may be connected to this'header. Six suchhorns .are shown in the drawing, but groups Comprising various numbersof horns may 'be employed, for instance, 'four, or ten. The

header and horns are shown as located above the fender 2, but theposition in which the horns will be placed may be varied to suit theconvenience lof the operator and the par"- ticular construction of theautomobile with cated stopshoulders 8 and, preferably cast therewith.`10 denotes a valve stem which extends through -lthe branch connection6, having its lower end journaled in a projection 11l from such. branch.This stem is' provided withV a slot for the reception of a disk 12, thedisk being secured in1 place by means of a lsuitable number of screws13.

At its upperlend lthe'stem is provided with' an operating disk 14, saiddisk having a series of apertures 15 adjacent to the periphery thereof,for the reception of a screw or pin' 16. 17 denotes a stopprojectingfrom the upper. endof the valve st em beneath the disk 14 and'adapted toengage the .side of lthe vehicle and connected to the env 'its casing at4C. The outer end of the: pipe .nections 6,each connected to the inletend of stop shoulders 8 and 9. 18y denotes a screw connecting the disk-to thestop 17 and thus to thevalve stem and also 'serving as a,

means for `connecting a spiral spring 19 to thevalve stem and as a meansfor adjustably connecting the valve tothe key-board. One

end of the spring is connected to the lower end ofthe scre'vv 18 and itsopposite' end'to the stop shoulder 9. The parts are-'so arranged that,when' the stop 17 is in engage- 'ment with the shoulder 9, the valvedisk 12 extends across theI bore of the branch con nection 6, closingthesame. 'When the valve stem is rotated, the valve is opened until thethe angle type and comprise each a pair of stop 17 engages the shoulder8, inwhich position the valvefdisk will-,be turnedone-v quarter of arevolution and the fluid. can freely vthrough the branch A connection 6.As many brafnch connections and valves of the ytype described will beer'nployt-idI as there are horns 7.

. j In convenient position t'o be operated by singularly-disposed arms24 and .25, one of said arms being provided with a key v26 adaptedlt`o"belcngaged by a finger of the operator andthe other arm beingconnected,y `bymeans of a wire or other flexible connection 27 with thescrew- 1G von the correspending valve-operating disk 1-4.

28 'denotes across bar extending across the frame and adapted to limitthe movement of the key levers.

IVith the cons-truction'thus far described, the operator will be enabledto play one or y more of the horns at willtoproduce a signal or a chord,or, if desirable,vto play a musical selection.

It is often desirable to mechanically op-l erate a plurality of horns inunison,. to produce a chord or a signal composed of a pluralityofindividual notes. To enable the,

operator to secure this result,'.I provide a shaft 29 having a pluralityv.of projectionsthereon and adapted to engage the lever arms 25 andoperate different combinations pf said lever arms and of the horns,according be rotated. In' the drawing I'have shown theishaltt 29 asprovided with three sets of projections, each set being in a` commonplane extending radially from the shaft center. One such set ofprojectionsis shownat 30,

show-n herein, each set comprises three projections, but it will beunderstood that the number of projections constituting a set and he'number of such sets may -be varied, ac-

- `cording to the .number of horns or signaling devicesemployed. .Oneend of the shaft 29 projects through y a time, 'or in groups or to theposition to which the shaft mayv another set at 3'1, and a third sety at32. In the exemplitication of my invention as asleeve 33 having thereina plurality of notches'. andv the other yand projects throughthe/opposite end of the frame and is provided at its'oute'rmost portionwith a. disk 34' forming a bearing for ope endof a spiral spring4 3 5the other end o vyhich bears againstthe sideV member of' the. frame 21and tends to'forcetha 'shait through such end'of the'fralne. The end of.the 4shaft opposite the disk 34. is providedv v with 4an arm 36projecting 'at right' angles therefrom vand with an' operating handle 37Thel arm 36 is adapted to engage a plurality sleeve 38. In the positionshown vin Fig.2,' the arm 86 is in a notch corresponding to of notchesinthe outer end 'of'l the the dead or .neutral condition ofgthe f'horns. lVhen moved into the notch 3 8, the

projections 30 are brought into engagement with the corresponding arms25, Vas shown inFigB, 'and a suitable' group'of horns is operated toproduce a chord or a'signal. lZhen moved into the notches 39 and 40, theprojections 31 and 32, respectively, will be brought into engagementwith appropriatelever arms 25. The arm 36 will be re tained in thenotches by the act-ion of the 'spring 5. To facilitate the passage ofthe arm 36 over the project-ions 41 between `the notches,' the oppositesides of each projection are beveled, as shown at 42.A

It will be possible` Jfor tliel'op'erator .to soundv thehorns orsignaling devices one at combinations, by means of the keys 26.`however, to4 give a signal from' a plurality' of ,horns or signalingdevicessounding in unison, he can do so' by operating the handle 37. Byrotating the shaft 29, a plural# ityot such combined signals or chordsmay be given in succession.l On' releasing the kevs'26 or the arms 25,ythe springs 19 v vJI close the valves 12 and return the keylever tothefposition shown in Fig. 2.-

' -It will be understood that, in operation, the cut-out valve will berst'operated, as -by the lever 43 to cut out the exhaust'from thepipez=4a` and divert it into the pipe 4. kNo sound will be produced,however, unless one or more ofthe valves the branch conf nections 6 areopened. l The Vpin or screw aperture. In order to secure a proper leadof thewire from a disk to its key, the disk may be 1adjusted by merelyremoving the screw 18 and insertingfit through an apertureI in the diskwhich will secure the proper lead from pin-16` to the key.A

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

.1. In mechanism ofl the character set forth, the combination of aplurality of uidpressure operated members, a rotary Should he desire,-

16 isl'spiderea into its valve for controlling the supply of pressureduid to each of said members, stops arranged to limitthe movement ofeach of said valves, a spring tending to hold each of said valves inclosed position, a plurality of keys, a flexible device extending betvveen each of said Vkeys and a vval-ve, and means whereby each devicenected to its valve to yvarythe lead of said .device -from the valve.

of the character set v .flow of pressure fluid to said member, saidvalve comprising a stem. having' a disk thereon, said disk beingprovided With a plurality of apertures, a pin adapted Ato be insertedinto any of said apertures, and an operating device connected tosaid'pin.l

Ll. In mechanism of the character set forth, the combination, with afluid pressure operated member, of a connection for sup; plying pressurelluid thereto, a rotary valve 1n said'connection, said valve having astem' extending through the casing of the connection, a pair of stopshoulders carried by said connection,a stop carried by the stem, andaspring surrounding said stem and having one end secured to one of theshoulders of the connection and the other endsecured to the stop carriedby the valve stem.

5; In. mechanism of the character set forth, the combination of a fluidpressure may be adjustably conl supply pipe, a plurality Iof branchesconnected therewith, a rotary valve mounted in each branch, a keyboardcomprising a plurality of keys, a flexible device extending between eachkey and a valve, and means ivhercb)i the point of connection between`ach of said flexible devices and its valve may be adjusted.

G. In amechanism ofv the character set forth, the combination of aplurality. of fluid pressure operated members, valves.

each rotatable about an ax1s'an'd each adapted to control the supply ofpressure fluid` to one of said members, means normally closing each ofsaid valves, a k yboard comprisinga plurality of keys, a .ilexibledevice extending between each key and a valve,A and means whereby thepoint of connection between each of said flexible devices and its valvevmaybe angularly Vadjusted. Y .7. In a mechanism of thecharacter setforth, the combination of a plurality of iluid'pressure operatedmembers, a valve for controlling the supply of pressure fluid t0- eachof said members, means tendineto hold each of saidvalves in closedposit; 1, a keyboard comprising a plurality of keys, a flexible device'connected to each of said keys, and an arigularly adjustable deviceconnected to each valve and to one of said' -tiexible devices. i

In testimony whereof, I hereunto altixmy signature in the presence oftwo w1t' nesses,

CLAUD FOSTER.- lVitnesses J. B. HULL, BRENNAN 1,3. WEST.

